Google and Amazon Battle Over the Book Market

Following in the heels of Google's big headliner about its new eBooks software yesterday, Amazon announced its own web-based e-reader, according to the Wall Street Journal.

From the article:

Asked how the new Amazon feature might change the competitive landscape, Google spokeswoman Jeannie Hornung said, “Google eBooks is a competitive offering.” A key difference for Google books, she said, is that “you can buy Google eBooks from your choice of reseller, not just from us.”

But Amazon has an answer to that, too. The new Kindle for Web service was designed, in part, to help sites that want to make money by selling books as affiliates of the giant online retailer. (Amazon affiliates, who the company calls associates, can make up to 15% of the cost of an item, depeneding on the item.) With Kindle for the Web, sites can let potential buyers sample chapters and begin reading a full book from their own site.